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Apologies to all you paleonetters who are heartily fed-up with discussion about amateur v. professional geology/palaeontology - reach for your delete keys now. Apologies too for exhuming a subject that petered-out last week, but I was off-net, so missed the development of this discussion. In common with some other respondants to this discussion, I am dismayed that sweeping generalisations are still being made about both amateurs and professionals in our science, based on the bad experiences of a minority. It is a sad but fundamental aspect of human nature that one bad experience can cloud our memory of a dozen good ones. The truth of the matter is that there are good and bad practitioners in varying degrees in both areas, and that the best of us can have "off" days. It is however the duty of professionals in our science to transcend these generalisations and to seek to work with amateurs in a constructive way, so that both parties benefit. I don't want to go over, yet again, the benefits that amateurs bring to our science because it is abundantly clear to any of us that enjoy the privilige of working with them that they have made, and continue to make, an enormously valuable contribution to our science. Any professionals that have had bad experiences with amateurs should be looking to themselves and asking "where did _I_ go wrong?", because it is our responsibility to educate and support anyone who takes an interest in our science. If those people make mistakes, it MAY be that they are culpably greedy, stupid, lazy or downright criminal, but it is far more likely that they are isolated and misinformed - hardly their own fault. It is harder to excuse professionals, especially if they are simply too idle or egotistical to provide the service required of them, but for all their training and experience, they are human and fallible, especially outside their own specialities. We all make mistakes, and there are countless reasons for doing so, but it would be irrational to categorise all professionals as incompetent or unhelpful on this basis! In summary it is unhelpful to our science in general and us as individuals in particular, to foster a "them and us" attitude in either the amateur or professional camp, or to take sides in a "my dad is bigger than your dad" squabble. We must build bridges, and both professionals AND amatuers must be pro-active in doing so, to the benefit of all of us. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- /""""\ | Paul Jeffery, [The Fat Bloke with the Shells] | 0 0 | | Room PA205, Department of Palaeontology, ( oo ) | The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD. | \__/ | |----------------------------------------------------------------| \ / Smile, and the world wonders what you've been doing ... | -|____|- |----------------------------------------------------------------| ___________| Tel: +44 (0)171 938 8793 [9277 - Fax] INTERNET: paj@nhm.ac.uk -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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